Jayalalithaa gets over radiation fear, may visit US ship

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa is likely to be among the highprofile guests at a dinner party on board a ship accompanying USS Carl Vinson on April 9. Official sources said the CM was keen to take part in the final day celebrations of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier calling on Chennai Port as part of the Malabar exercise. She is yet to officially confirm her participation though.

While a guest list of 30 VVIPs from Chennai, including Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah, has been drawn up, the CM's name does not figure in it yet. But state officials were confident that the CM would take part in the dinner being held to mark the three-day visit of USS Carl Vinson to the city.

"Indian officials have invited the Tamil Nadu governor, the chief minister, chief secretary Debendranath Sarangi, home secretary G Rajagopal and few senior bureaucrats and defence officials for the event. Until Friday, 30 dignitaries had confirmed their participation. We hope the CM will participate, too," said an official.

Not too long ago, when the USS Nimitz, another nuclear-armed aircraft carrier, was to anchor off the Chennai port, the AIADMK chief had opposed it saying the ship's visit would expose Chennai to "grave hazards of radiation". In 2007, Jayalalithaa had objected to the ship coming to the Chennai harbour, saying permission should not be granted to such a "deadly and disastrous" vessel to enter Indian waters.

The nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) became famous when the US military made it known that the ship's deck was used to dispose of the body of Osama bin Laden in the Indian Ocean. The ship is in the region to take part in the 2012 edition of the annual Indo-US Naval exercise "Malabar" being held in the Bay of Bengal and beginning Saturday. The 10-day exercise, which will go on until April 16, will see the participation of frontline units from Navies of both India and the US. The Harbour phase, scheduled from April 7 to 9, is being held in Chennai.